Fade to Black
by Bishie Huntress
Summary: The death of a friend leaves old emotional wounds feeling fresh once again. Three character portrayals.
1. The Death of a Friend

I caught you, as you fell. I stopped you from hitting the ground, but I couldn't stop the bleeding.

"Why?" I whispered, so quietly my voice broke.

Then I shouted, screaming to the sky.

"Why? _**Sasuke!**_"

I didn't want to fight.

I didn't want to kill you.

I wanted to save you.

For Sakura.

For Konoha.

For Kakashi-sensei.

For _me._

I…

There's so much left unsaid. So much I don't even know I want to say.

Let me borrow the image of your strength just once. Let me hold your broken body close so that I may hide the tears of my broken soul.

In the end, I surpassed you. My rival.

How bitter is my victory.

How painful the cost.

How I wish it could be me in your place, now that all is done.

"Sasuke…" My voice is rough from crying, but leaves me steadily enough. "Sasuke… You were always my best friend, too."

In answer, the clouds poured down their rain, soaking me as I shielded your still form.


	2. Silent Acknowledgment

Everything seems to slow drastically as I take that fatal blow. The injuries I'd sustained thus far were, on their own, not enough to stop me, but together, with that last powerful, passionate attack…

I saw the look in your eyes, Naruto. The fear. The regret. The _suffering_.

I feel them, too.

Best friends were never made to fight.

When my parents… When they were killed, I knew. I couldn't let anyone else in. Ever.

You always had a way of getting under someone's skin, though, even if sometimes it was in the most annoying way.

People never gave you a chance, but somehow… Somehow, you always made a strong impression.

I've heard the rumors. People all over have begun to look up to you. You've really made a name for yourself.

That your striving to become stronger was, in part, because of me, causes me to feel a strange sense of twisted pride.

_You've grown up, Naruto._

As I feel myself fall - _so cold_ - I can see your panic. Then your warm arms wrap around me, your knee bracing painfully against my back.

Your hold burns. I never told you, because I don't do corny and it sounds so _stupid_, but you always reminded me of the sun. So bright. So _intense_.

_I can't move._

Your shout, calling my name, pierces the surrounding stillness.

I think… I'm afraid. I don't really want to die.

In the end, when it comes right down to it, I wonder if I was wrong in leaving. Sometimes I've questioned whether vengeance is worth fighting for. But once you start… Well, how do you stop? When is it over? I never could tell. I got so wrapped up in everything that seemed so important…

_Don't cry, Naruto-_

_Damn it! _The words won't leave me.

But your words, choked with emotion, reach me. I never understood how you could show your heart so freely. I couldn't. I think it would have killed me. But maybe that is part of the reason others - _I _- could relate to you so well. In the end, we all feel the same things. Pain, sadness, love, anger, betrayal, fear…

As you hold me close to hide your tears, the rain begins to fall. I think it is weeping for you. Heaven knows it's not crying for me.

I feel the drops hit my face, sliding down like they're crying my tears for me. Fine tremors wrack my body with the effort it takes to draw just one more breath, to force my voice to _work._

"_Naru-"_

I choke on air and blood, coughing and spraying flecks of crimson. The pain is _blinding._ I can feel the world fading around me and I strive _desperately _for that elusive breath.

"_Naruto… you-"_

_I can't breathe. _

_I can't feel the rain anymore, or the cold._

_There is… nothing._


	3. Sakura's Failure

I'd never run so hard in all my life. I thought my heart would burst right out of my chest.

But the sight that greets me causes my legs to collapse beneath me.

_No! I was too late!_

My failure seems colossal, and I feel it crushing me, like it will swallow me whole.

_Naruto…_

Such pain… I've never heard anything so heartbreaking as your cry.

There was a time I thought about giving up our search for Sasuke. I even tried to convince you. It seemed too hard, and I couldn't bear to watch you push yourself and hurt yourself over and over for something that seemed so impossible to attain. You were so determined, though. You gave me new hope.

This… this is far more unbearable.

_To be so close…!_

My fist clenches and I pound it into the earth with all the strength left in me.

_It wasn't supposed to happen this way!_

Tears cover my face, blurring my vision. But I can see the two of you so clearly.

Together like this, Sasuke and Naruto, you are a strange kind of beautiful. My heart aches so excruciatingly as I witness the one-sided embrace.

My scream of anger and agony is lost amidst the thunder. Spent, my body falls weakly to the earth.

The rain begins…

…_but it won't wash away these tears. I don't think I can ever stop crying…_


End file.
